I Heart Huckabees 2 disc version $39.99 srp (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

Wrong. *I* never used the MSRP at all. (I just used $30 as a generic price for the multi-disc sets.) And either way, it doesn't change the fact that the multi-disc set is vastly more expensive than the single-disc version, especially after release week.

People aren't paying MSRP for the cheap edition either, so what's your point, exactly?

As an example, look at Mystic River at Amazon. The single-disc version is $15 (MSRP $20), and the 3-disc set is $25 (MSRP $31). The markup is 67%, which is greater than the percent difference between the MSRPs.

Your comparison of the discounted price of the multi-disc sets to the MSRP of the single-disc editions is the red herring here.

 

[Damin J Toell]

What in the world are you talking about? Where did I ever discuss the MSRP of any single-disc edition and compare it to anything? I'm lost.

DJ

 

[Benson R]

Again I'm sorry if I got it wrong that you have no intention of watching the fullscreen version.

I really am not trying to tear you down because you disagree so please can we be civil here.

I thought I might have offended you because you seemed to take offense at my assertion that the majority of film fans paying extra for the special edition would rather not have the fullscreen version included.

I quoted the msrp price not to exagerrate my argument but if that was the effect then I am sorry for that.

But you seem to be exaggerating your argument that the actuall price people are paying isnt that much. Besides the fact that the price goes up and stays up starting sunday, i believe only circuit city has this at 24.99. Bestbuy and all of brick and mortar stores have it for 29.99.

I dont have easy access to Circuit City and I dont get a print circular so for me the price is 29.99. In fact I was at Bestbuy today, intending to buy the special edition, but wound up getting the single disc. Since it takes it a while to get to watching the extras sometimes, I couldnt justify paying 14 dollars more for the extra disc. If I hadnt heard positive reactions from friends I might have been discouraged by the barebones release and not picked it up at all.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

DJ,

Sorry if I came across negatively. I think we are just in a 3-way misunderstanding here. Anyway, we all seem to be clear on each other's points now.

BTW, thanks to this thread putting it in my mind, I just bought a brand-new copy of the 3-disc Mystic River on eBay for $9. (No, it doesn't appear to be a bootleg -- and I think the seller has another copy listed, if anyone here is interested.)

 

[Jason Hennigan]

I'm surprised that there's so much support here for the pricing model of the SE version of this release.

I was one of the people surprised to see, what I thought to be, an exorbitant price on the special edition. I would have liked to buy the DVD, but the high price definitely deterred me.

 

[TravisR]

Then buy the cheaper one

 

[Chris Farmer]

But why should we have to? I can get a single disc copy of this movie, or Master and Commander, or Mystic River, or others, for the same price as a fully loaded Spider-man 2 set, or more than Top Gun or Once Upon a Time In the West. They're charging the same MSRP (which translates to the same in-store costs) as Black Hawk Down Deluxe, Panic Room SE, Lord of the Rings EE, and sets of that level. this may be a nice two disc set, but it's not at the level of other sets going for $39.99 MSRP and the $25 or so price point in BB. The short version is, what used to get you a nice two disc set now gets you a single disc set, and you pay through the nose for extras. If they dropped the price of the single disc and kept the 2 disc or even raised it slightly it would be actual savings, but we're still paying the exact same prices as we used to for the 2 disc for less content. That's a rip off.

 

[Benson R]

I just finished watching it and the transfer wasnt terrible, but like some other recent fox releases I thought it was a little on the soft side.

 

[Steven Good]

I haven't taken the shrinkwrap off my 2-disc set yet, but I agree that it is a rip off.

That's why I used this week's Target ad to price match elsewhere. The ad has the artwork for the 2-disc version shown with the "Low Price" of 17.99. Took it to Best Buy with no price-matching problems.

$39.99 SRP? I would never have paid that price for a 2-disc set that other studios would easily have released for $25 - 30 MSRP.

This, along with Fox's "I, Robot" and "The Day After Tomorrow" 1-disc releases, followed 6 months later with 2-disc SE's, is troubling. I will simply be a shrewder shopper, ferreting out info on the web about possible double-dipping plans, and buy accordingly...

 

[Ruz-El]

Alot of the defense for this is that fox can maximize profits by offering wide screen and fullscreen on both the single disc release, with the higher priced special edtion, offering the full choice of viewing to the casual fan and collector alike. I'd argue that Fox would make more money by elleminating the single disc release and offering only the 2 disc set at the $25 dollar price. Save significantly on production costs, wouldn't it?

I'm not a big fan of double dipping, and a bigger hater of offering feature packed editions in a small time frame, the type of time frame that leads you to know that the special edtition was being worked on and planned before the bare bones came out. Now, in the case of Huckabees (as opposed to I Robot, etc) 20th Century Fox has done the right thing by offering both choices at the same time, but a turds still a turd, irregardless as to how you polish it. When I can buy cult favorite 2 disc feature packed sets of genre movies from independent studios for $20-$30, a 2 disc set for a major studio film (this did not play in limited art houses, too my knowledge, it played in our big franchise theaters.) for over $30 is a rip off. Fox went from offering feature packed 2 disc releases for $25-$30 (Fight Club being a film that would certainly fit into the Huckabees genre of cult status, came out first as a 2 disc set, than got stripped down to a barebones disc that I think offered both wide and full screen options, although I can't verify that because I would never buy a stripped down version or Fight Club) to doing the double dip dance made famous by sony/Columbia.

I'm not going to support them. I hardly buy any Columbia titles anymore, and Fox is going that way too, and manely because they come in overpriced and the quality of the special features do not equal that price. Warners is putting out enough quality special editions to take my money.

The only way I'll get Huckabees is if I see the SE at a price equal too or less than the single disc. (and I don't need any help in looking for this deal, as the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so purchasing period is debateable at this point.)

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Note my post earlier in the thread: wait a few months, and hit eBay.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

All the arguing about price aside, this was one of my favorite films of 2004. I bought the 2 disc set for 24 bucks. Love it and have no complaints.

 

[AaronMK]

I think this practice is a whole lot more troubling than the "Huckabees" release structure. At least with the Huckabees, they are telling you up front what your purchase options are. The way "I, Robot", "Man on Fire", and (this is the first I have heard of it, but two-disc releases in other regions have pointed at it) "The Day After Tomorrow" is just downright manipulative.

I'll consider Fox greedy and bash them on the "I, Robot" type release structure a long time before I would do the same on the "Huckabees" release structure. The "I, Robot", etc. two-disc releases six months later is just a bitch slap to people who bought the single disc thinking nothing else was coming. While the features provided considering the price on both "Huckabess" editions may pale in comparison to other releases, I don't see anything "wrong" happening here.